Our Foundry executive needs more challenges so he's eagerly taken on the reigns of the Freestyle section as temporary head after the retirement of long-standing Newsletter contributor nagerous, who we'll still see in the next edition of the newsletter, albeit on the other side of the table when answering questions instead of asking them.

In the newsletter this issue, Freestyle brings us another Scum Insider eagerly awaited by our Mafia gamers while we remain in the dark on whether we've already seen Bruce warTournaments gives us double duty from it's reporters as two of them put in 2 articles each to show that 2+2=4 when you have the right 2. (The second interviewee in the section beat yours truly en route to his victory, so blame the dice gods for letting you have a triple dose of me in this issue )Also exciting is the new reporter for the Foundry section as we learn something new about background workings in the Map Foundry

Sully gives a whole new meaning to the term "double-dipping". Or fits the definition. Whatever. At any rate, hi! I'm the new Freestyle Executive for the time being! I'll try to be as nag-some as possible, so as not to affect your traditional Mess Hall and interrogation format too much. Okay, enough with the monkey business, let's get jiggy with it and welcome this issue's Freestyle articles! I have come back to help out safariguy and co. with The Scum Insider, and we've got the anticipated interrogation of Bruceswar! Enjoy, folks!

Want to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia NewsThe third largest mafia game is finally full! In addition, the rule-free mafia game resulted in an easy, essentially flawless victory for town, though it seems naxus and ol' Sully are going to team up and take another stab at it. Of course, don't forget to participate in and stay up-to date with all the discussions taking place in Mafia Discussions. And, as always, new faces are more than welcome in the Mafia Forum!

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

In any game, but especially themed games, the mod will often design roles that mirror a character in the theme. However, although theme games tend to be more interesting and have a greater opportunity to create unique roles, there is a possibility that town will try to find out who's mafia by having everyone claim their character and ability and look for when two people claim the same character. The counter to this way of potentially ruining the game for the mafia is for the mod to purposely not put some characters into the game and give those character names and possible roles to mafia. This discourages "mass claiming" as nobody can be sure who's telling the truth about their role.

It is also standard for someone who is 1 or 2 votes away from being lynched (L-1 or L-2) to give a full roleclaim and character name to see if people will stop trying to lynch him/her.

Example

There is a Mafia game that has a Mario theme. John is Bowser, a part of the mafia. The mod provides him with Toad as a fakeclaim, thus guaranteeing that there is no town player who is Toad.

How to Use this Strategy

Although customary for roleclaims to only occur after votes or other pressure, some players may choose to roleclaim when not pressured and this may be due to several reasons.

1. They are a cop and got a guilty investigation.2. They are mafia trying to deceive town by using an odd roleclaim.3. They are some sort of third party survivor that doesn't wish to be lynched or nightkilled.4. They are masoned with or have information that clears a player in danger of being lynched.

There are other instances when roleclaiming can occur.

Fakeclaiming, is almost always a mafia or third party tactic. Usually town have no reason to lie about their roles. A riskier mafia tactic is to counterclaim a town member, trying to get the town member lynched. The risk with this strategy is that even if the town member is lynched due to the mafia counterclaim, the counterclaiming mafia member is almost certainly going to be nightkilled or lynched the next day by town aligned roles. However, if the mafia manage to get the town to lynch the cop or a doctor, then the tradeoff may be worth it depending on the stage of the game and the remaining number of town/mafia/third party roles alive.

While it is possible for there to be multiple players playing the same role (i.e. 2 busdrivers), it is almost unheard of for two players to play both the same character and have the same role. When trying to spot a mafia fakeclaim, two main considerations must be weighed.

1. If it is a theme game, how central to the theme is this character? Usually, mafia will have a few central or supporting characters a fakeclaims, and a few more obscure ones. While this is not a rigid rule by any means, really obscure characters may be more likely to be mafia.

2. Does the character fit the role if the game is themed? Alternately, how easy is it for the player to confirm their role's power? If the game is a theme game, claiming a character and a power that has little connection to the character may raise a red flag. For instance, if the theme was the movie Scarface, and a player claims he is Tony Montana and a doctor, the role and the character do not really match up. Known as "flavor speculation" the more outlandish the power in relation to the character, the more unlikely that person is going to be town.

However, when weighing the claims that people have put forth, the best way for catching mafia is still old fashioned scum hunting. Roleclaiming usually is done as a last resort and may be able to sway a few extra players to lynch the or save the person, but usually is not strong enough by itself to push a lynch.

Q. How much do you like saying good game to low ranked players during round one?

That is one of my favorite past times! All joking aside.. I call them like I see them.

Q. Do KoRT cows really like JaneAustin?

100% Yes! Even streaker!

Q. Can JaneAustin really flirt her way into a top three clan?

We shall see how good of a flirt she is. Joking aside she has the skills to make a top 3 clan.

Q. How much do you love JaneAustin?

Hmm, what is love? Well that is a good question. But from what I think it is I love her a lot.

Q. Do you want to marry JaneAustin?

YES! Lick lick!

Q. Is sex better with me or Josko?

100% You! Lets not get into the details?

Q. How often did #1_stunna post in the KORT forum drunk? How many turns did he take drunk?

I cannot say that for sure, but it was a good percentage. Well sometimes.

Q. How many questions will josko.ri answer for you?

All my thoughts belong to Josko! So all?

Q. Is it true that "Bruceswar has dropped 2 dress sizes since starting on the Atkins diet," as asserted by BoganGod?

If I dropped any clothes size I would be in kids sizes! So no.

Q. Do you support an official account sitting option?

There needs to be a fix so all sitters post when sitting. I am not sure how this system will work, but if something can be done that is flexible then I am all for it. If not and it causes lots of missed turns then no.

Q. Is it difficult to keep your score so low? I know you're a better player than captain level.

Actually when you play doodle earth assassin and other stupid games, your rank can tank quick. But yes it sucked that my rank went all over the map for a bit. I am left with 50 assassin UD's left. Lets see what it does to my rank.

Q. Which clan cheats more, KORT or TOFU?

THOTA! Just kidding. All joking aside, no clan cheats as far as I know. Sure clans might be setup so that some people get more games than others, but alas no clan is trying to cheat the system.

Q. Are your clan war predictions deliberately wrong for the fun of the community, or is there a spread betting scam?

It is very hard to figure out an exact score as some clans are really energized, while others are seemingly fading at a given time. There is a scheme thought between TOFU, KORT, and THOTA to keep all others down.

Q. How often does Josko come on your house?

Everyday except Sunday. We have lots of fun!

Q. You live in Texas. Explain.

The great state of Texas. It is vast and big, but it is lacking one person. JA!

Q. Do you like eating beef? If so, how does it feel to be a cannibal?

Beef is good. Cannibal is better. MOOO!

Q. What do cows drink?

Cows drink Empire's blood, along with pony blood. Yum!

Q. If given the option, would you change KORT's infamous decision? Why or why not?

We did not make the rules. We just followed what was put in front of us. We would have done the same if given the chance again. We should not bend or break the rules after they have been set.

Q. Which clan (excluding KORT) do you think will be #1 a year from now?

Clans with a chance at number 1. AOC, FOED, TOFU, TSM, THOTA, Empire. Picking a number 1 is surely hard to do, but if I was going to pick one clan I would say THOTA.

Q. Do you actually believe the pre-war predictions you make? If so, do you really think EMPIRE is that bad?

Empire is not bad and has improved a good bit since you guys last played us. I have picked Empire in many wars, yet Empire has not beaten one of the top 5 yet? TSM? THOTA? TOFU? KORT? or LoW. Until then I will pick vs Empire. Prove me wrong.

Q. Are you as cocky in RL as you are on CC?

I defer to JaneAustin on this question. She can better answer that for you.

Q. Do you believe that MrMoody is playing CC in heaven?

He is surely enjoying some CC in heaven. Though maybe not with me, but alas he is having fun!

Q. How do you enjoy being a member of the Academy Teachers? How long? Tell us about how you got to that position, and some of the pros cons!

I am no longer a SOC mod. Long story short is it will be kept private why I am no longer a mod.

Q. Who is the sexiest player to whom you bequeathed free premium?

You are the only one to get premium. No wait I take it back Evilegi for watching my account. So even split?

Q. Now wasn't that a wise decision?

It was very wise. You still owe me a photo, squishy.

Q. Any regrets?

No, none at all. ZSP only.

Q. How often does someone on CC make you want to commit first-degree murder? Second degree?

Not once ever. I did one time get told I need to take a chill pill.

Q. How do you recruit people for KORT?

Most of the time KORT goes looking for the people. They do come to us sometimes.

Q. How many have not passed your recruiting process (in % or numbers)?

I would say 25% do not make it in. Give or a take a few.

Q. Do you play from work?

Yes I own a business so I do play from work. Bad of me? Maybe but oh well?

Q. What would you do if you went bald? Are you bald right now?

I am not bald, nor do I plan to be anytime soon. That would be odd. I am only 28.

Q. Why did you decide to make your map all green? Why not violet? Isn't violet a better color than green?

Green rules the world and is the color of grass. Enough said?

What was your inspiration for starting KORT and why did you name it Knights of the Round Table?

KORT was started so we would all be equal as in Knights of the Round Table. We are still all equal.

Just how many cow videos do you have in the KORT Forums?

We have countless cow video's in KORT.

Q. How many of those videos contain poles, strip teases, and other X-rated cow material?

There are some X-rated cow material within the walls of KORT. MOOO!!

Q. How many cows have you had sex with without josko? Why does your cow lick like kitten do? Ever had cow's tongue or what about sweatbreads?

Just 1.. Loes As for my cow avatar... well I like it and it keeps my screen clean. Never had either of those but seen it.

Q. Will KORT and TOFU ever kiss and make up?

KORT and TOFU will come to pass. THOTA will outlast us all. GG!

Q. Did you have sex already with Josko?

Only once after a good breakfast. LOL! All joking aside no!

Q. OK, here goes... KORT has had a bit of an interesting time of late (see KORT v. TOFU, Joski v. everyone and everything), and since things tend to come in 3's my question for Bruce is this: what will KORT's next big hot mess be?

The 3rd was surely the THOTA war. Beating THOTA was something nobody had ever done. KORT was the first! MOOO!!

Q. Thanks, Bruce!

Thanks for a great interview and Shoutout once more to JaneAustin! Lick Lick!

Hi again amigos and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments. After a little absence from CC due to real life issues, I'm back! and I want to thanks my team and specially Dukasaur for covering me in issue #50.

And talking about Dukasaur, for the first time in months, he has finally gotten off his lazy ass and produced two interviews instead of just one. His first is with DaveH, who is not only a tournament winner but also one of this years most promising new tournament organizers. The second is his first interview with the winner of an official Team CC-sponsored tournament, and the perfect conclusion to our 2011 Women's World Cup celebrations.

Sonicsteve has also produced two articles for this newsletter edition: the well known "Join This? or Not!" with the most current information about tournaments taking sign-ups, and the "Tourney Stat Attack", a little article with nice information/stats about tournaments in general.

So, it looks like it's time for the lazy angola who is on vacation, to take a break for this edition. Have fun amigo! and hopefully you will come back in good shape.

DaveH is the winner Journeys of Discovery 1: Marco Polo tournament, organized by none other than DaveH! This tournament ran from April 7th to June 14th. I myself was lucky enough to reach the semi-finals in this tourney, but not quite lucky enough to reach the final. Naturally, I was interested in speaking to the winner.

Normally my first question is "what attracted you to this particular tournament?" but in this case I think the question answers itself. So I'll go on with a different question, in this case pertaining to what you wrote this morning:

DaveH wrote:Many thanks for playing the tournament; rather embarrassingly, I came out on top after the final game between myself, giuppichan, crazycolin and rmjw10.

I've always thought it would be a little embarrassing to be in that position. But was it a proud moment too? This was the first tournament you ever organised, and here you were winning it!

Yes it was a proud moment, of course, though I did feel, as it was my first attempt at organizing a tournament, that I was in a different role and I certainly did not get the same elation that I had felt in the other two tournaments that I have won. I certainly did feel embarrassment at winning, though in the final game itself my competitive instinct took over and there was no way in which I was going to give up the winning position that, by luck, I found myself in.

Marco Polo is part of your "Journeys of Discovery" series. How did you come up with this idea?

I’m not sure how I came up with the theme; though there have been a few TV programs recently that may have triggered the idea – also I have enjoyed researching the various explorers and trying to match their journeys onto maps and into various game formats.

How many tourneys are there going to be in the series (or is that a secret)?

No secret! Hopefully there will be as many tournaments as I can find different explorers, but many seem to have followed much the same route as others - and playing the same maps time and time again would not be good (High Seas, followed by Land and Sea and then back again perhaps?). So I have tried to vary the format of each tournament, to try and keep the interest - even if the same world areas might have been covered.

I really liked the scoring system you used in Marco Polo, with actual CC points being the measure of score. I've been wanting to ask why you moved away from that to more traditional scoring systems in the other Explorer tourneys.

I’m pleased that you liked it!

Yes, I thought it would make a welcome change, but then the random match-ups meant that there were wide disparities in the points allocated per round. I thought that the pairings might have been better based on rankings to give similar points per game, though that might have resulted in the same pairings throughout the tournament. Having said that, there were just two points separating three of the four finalists, so it seemed to average out eventually!

I only moved away from that system so that I could try different game formats, but it may be a good format to have in a tournament where every player played ever other one – perhaps I’ll try that in a future tournament!

What is good about organizing a tournament is that it makes you realize how dedicated some of the guys are and just how much time and work they must put in!Obviously the Marco Polo was running during the time that they were making changes to the Game Finder window, and for some time there the Tour Stats add-on didn't work, and for Tournament Organizers life was rough for a couple weeks. Were you impacted by any of that?

Not at all. Because I was using the points gained in the matches, I was opening each completed game and then copying the points into a spreadsheet before updating the tournament information. As a newcomer to tournament organization, I did not, in fact, discover the "tour stats" button until later - obviously it was very useful in my second tournament!

In the semi-finals you kicked my ass pretty resoundingly. I expected to lose on the Land and Sea map, but I thought that High Seas game was going to be my win. Somehow I goofed and didn't notice that you had grabbed that South Atlantic bonus, and just with one mistake it was game over. Were you surprised when I didn't attack your bonus there? Did you know it was the turning point?

After refreshing my memory by looking at that game, I think it is an example of why CC games are so addictive – and no, I am sure that I did not think it was a clear outcome at that stage! At round 3 I got the bonus and managed to gain the ascendancy for a couple of rounds, but then you had a 10 set and took loads of my territories. I also had a 10 set next go and took all but one back. Later you had another 10 set and took away my bonus and had the lead for a couple of rounds until I again had a 10 set and re-took the lead. Two 10 sets later; one on either side; and a few rounds later I managed to win.

Really boring for people reading this, I'm afraid, but I think that it does illustrate that you can't take anything for granted with any of CC's games!

Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do besides play CC? (Don't tell me anything that you don't want to, just general terms.) I see you're from Torquay in England. I've never been there, but I've seen photographs and it looks beautiful. How's life in a postcard-perfect town?

Life here is always busy but great fun! Yes, it’s a beautiful part of the UK and is called “The English Riviera” as it usually has a very pleasant climate (in UK terms!).

Sailing is a big part of my life during summer – Tor Bay is perhaps the best sailing venue in the UK, being virtually tideless – used for the 1948 Olympics and just down the coast from Weymouth, the 2012 Olympic sailing venue. I’m a Regional Race Officer; last weekend managing a Regatta as part of a local Festival and in August directing the biggest sailing Regatta in South Devon as well as getting involved every week with my local sailing club.

It’s really an excuse to escape the busy beaches and catch a few fish while watching boats sail round and round and I can’t think of too many nicer things in life (depending on the weather of course!). Apres-sailing usually involves a lot of beer which is another big plus. A couple of years ago I was persuaded to join Rotary, so I also help out at various charity events which is great fun – and involves a lot of wine afterwards (most members being a a little more refined than the average sailor). I’ll perhaps have to think of a way in which CC can be played and at the same time raise money for good causes!

So what's next for you? What are your goals and aspirations on CC?

I can’t see that the buzz you get when you make that winning move will ever deteriorate, so I think I’ll want to play for a long time yet. I don’t see myself doing too much other than oscillating up and down the ranks though – the guys that maintain high ranks have my utmost respect and playing them you realise (usually after their decisive first move) just how good they really are. I can’t see me ever being anywhere close to their ability, as much as I would like to be and will try to be of course!

I will still want to set up tournaments in future; the Journeys of Discovery series is now up to 7 and I am working up ideas for a new series, though I’m aware that I’ll need a few tournaments to finish before I have the time for servicing new ones. One thing I really enjoy about tournaments is setting up the spreadsheets and macros to minimize the work involved in maintaining them, so I’d also love to get into ideas for new maps and their coding but at present I just do not have the time – and probably the skill!

Something else that will keep me playing is that, the more you play, the more relationships you develop with people across the globe, whether it is as partners or as opponents. The guys that are daft enough to partner me on a regular basis, such as goyok, greenoaks, tec805 and Will Lee have not only taught me such a lot about the game on different maps but I regard them as close friends even though we live on different continents. And I would not want to miss the laughs I get from the banter with regular opponents such as General Brewsie; except when he very occasionally wins..

Thank you for your time, Dave! Good luck in all your future endeavors!

Most of my games are speed games, I've always joined DJ Teflon's matches, and having had some practice on world 2011 map, I felt I was definitely a person to contend with. Last year was heartbreaking where I played so well on the 2010 map and was +700 in points but didn't win anything. I've always wanted to win a CC-sponsored event, so I joined: well worth it

I've interviewed DJ Teflon before, and he's very much about adrenaline. Is that it for you, too? Is the intensity and pressure of speed games what drives you?

The adrenaline is a good boost, but my favorite thing about speed games is you don't have a lot of time to make decisions, you are forced to think quick, but also to be observant of what others may do. The final seconds of a speed game round make or break a game. The idea of precision gives me the adrenaline boost!

The players were ranked by win percentage, not by total wins, so you had plenty of freedom to choose between playing a lot of games or not. How many did you end up playing?

Well, I was one of the lowest ranked players, so I had to play well. First round I had a 1.2 average. I played 6 games, and went 3-3, which barely got me into the 2nd round. I wanted to play more but not many people were on. 2nd Phase, in the 2 hours we were designated, I played 4 games, and got 5 points. Finished 3rd to get me into the semi finals. Semis / Final were 1 game each, so I played 12 games. All speed games, and all pretty much against higher ranked opponents.

Did you find that a difficult map? And did you play any practice games on it before you went into the tournament?

I played a few practice games and realized it was VERY similar to World Cup 2010, where I gained over 700 points. The map was difficult in a 3 player game because 1 player was always the variable because they would get a terrible drop. Overall, the map has a great layout and most of the time the middle wasnt the best route to go to win the game.Tell me about some of those higher ranked players in the final. Did you play anyone you knew well? Did you play anyone famous? Any memorable moments?

I played a lot of quality players with points above 1800. The semi-finals and finals were probably the best games I've played in a while. My semi-finals match against Leehar ( Team CC member ): In the 3rd round he needed a card and had epically terrible dice; I felt bad. I had a massive troop lead, almost lost it but a 3 card set ended the game. The finals was a match I won't forget. Matt and I took each other out to the point that we saw ?'s over the map and neutrals haha. I had a 23, and he tried to do damage with his 15 that he saw me in the semi finals spot. He lost 4 straight rolls, and subsequently the match right there. I attacked him down to a few territory's and ended it 2 turns later. I got a little luck but I also played extremely well, and as for famous people, my true identity will never be revealed

I'm just looking at Game 9345593. You weren't very confident at all. I see a lot of:2011-07-03 15:37:00 - ChrisBeerens: im in trouble2011-07-03 15:39:13 - ChrisBeerens: i think you got me2011-07-03 15:41:12 - ChrisBeerens: i think hes got me.... and so on.... and then suddenly....2011-07-03 15:48:57 - mattattam: oh i had it and i got greedy!That must have been quite a moment!

He had me, I wont lie, but then he made a vital error and got super greedy! He had position, dice, cards, everything was stacked in his favor, but then like I said.. split second decisions make or break this game. His was the bad one. If it was me, i would have also gone after the 23 with my 15...attackers dice you just never know what will happen. I played well, but not great there.

This is your first tournament cup. What's your next priority on CC? Are you getting into more tournaments?

I would love to get into more tournaments, but also get into dubs, trips, and quads... because I want to expand my knowledge of the game. I've been a paying member for 3 years+, and its time i got my points up. I've gone for medals and tourney trophies. I play everyday, unless im on holidays. 10,000 games would be cool and now im preparing for game 10 million!!!

I also noticed on your wall a few other things:

List Of Things To Accomplish Now In 2011: 1. 10,000 games completed 2. 40% of games won 3. 3000 points 4. Have regular dubs, trip, quads teams 5. Win on every map 6. 50 medals 7. Host a tournament 8. Create a map

That's a nice, organized list.

I also notice you've got 4 Whack-a-Mod trophies, as well as a Battle Royale under your belt. So you really get into the "extras" that CC provides.

I really enjoy the extras. Conquer club has always been good to me, and i want to give back, Im trying to become a member of CC or volunteer! I have fun playing the extras and I like to beat the mods and get the trophies! Ha Ha! Yes my list is organized, whether I complete it all or not is a different story! Good to play with goals, unfortunately since the tournament win ive lost 750 points. I have never seen so many 6's rolled by opponents!

Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions, Chris. Good luck in all your future endeavors!

One concluding note: when I volunteered for this project, I offered to interview "all of the tournament winners." How naive I was! I had no idea what a staggering number of tournaments there really are. Now I know there is no way I will be able to get to everyone. I intend to publish one or two interviews in every edition of the Dispatch, but even so I will probably only get to talk to about 5 percent or so of all the winners. My approach will be partially random and partially targeted. Some will be chosen because of their fame or amazing stats, some will be chosen because I find the tournament they were in to be unusual or especially interesting, and many will be chosen completely at random. I will pay special attention to those that are winning a tournament for the very first time. If you are looking forward to telling the story of the exciting tournament that you were just in and want to be on my list, please feel free to PM me any time.

This is our regular look at a selection of the tournaments in sign-ups:

koontz1973 is proving that he can organize the proverbial party in a brewery by running "the biggest, alcohol fueled pub crawl in history." So far we've had Long Island Iced Tea on the NYC map, Pina Coladas on Jamaica, and Tequila on Mexico to name but a few. Most have been named after drinks, but as last orders approaches we have the simply titled Drunk and Paralytic. I wonder if he'll run a massive tournament called hangover when these are done. Remember to drink responsibly, folks.

There were still nearly 40 sign-ups available at the time of writing for the 128-player World Cup of Risk. The 2011 edition of this event is brought to us by WorldCup4James and comes complete with it's own anthem on youtube! The players each choose 1 of 5 qualifying groups of varying sizes, with just 8 players due to make it through to the final match on the classic map.

jimfinn is hosting an ambitious series of 64 tournaments which will have a grand finale for the 64 winners. The latest event is now available for sign-ups by clicking Jim's Tourney Series #11. As each of these events is completed, the winner gets to pick a spot in the grand final bracket. Note, please don't try to sign up in the grand final bracket!

HighlanderAttack appears to have started a mini craze with his new Can you beat HA? format, in which the tournament organizer battles against all the entrants. Whoever performs the best against the organizer will win, while the organizer himself has to beat everybody to get a result. These all filled very quickly but inspired other TOs such as CD's Can you beat CD and Chappy and Happy which extended the idea to a dubs setting. I think we might see a few similar events in the near future.

I hope you choose to join some of these wonderful tournaments and if you don't like any of these then go to the Create/Join a Tournament or Tournaments Tab and take a look at the other tournaments that are waiting to be filled.

For those of you looking for immediate tournament action, check out the Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum. You'll be playing very soon after signing up as a reserve.

Having recently joined the tournament directors I have been amazed by just how many tournaments are generated by the users of this site and was surprised to learn that over half a million tournament games have been played so far. Now I know that many readers of this newsletter love nothing better than the smell of statistics in the morning, so I thought I'd share some of the facts.

At this moment there are 604 ongoing tournaments being run by 210 unique tournament organizers. HighlanderAttack is the most prolific TO, hosting over 40 of the ongoing tournaments.

4144 tournaments have already ended, thanks to the 610 site users who have contributed by running these events. The Organiser Hall of Fame lists these users. HA is top of the list on 208 finished tourneys, barterer2002 has a tally of 163, while merch313 has hosted 145 events.

Not all tournaments reach such a happy conclusion; 526 have been abandoned to date.

Participation extends well beyond the familiar names at the top of the Winners Hall of Fame. There are more than 10,300 players who have competed in the finished tournaments and over 5,300 unique players playing (or already knocked out of) the tournaments which are still ongoing.

Finally - 1,597 CC members have already won at least one tournament. If you're not one of them, then what are you waiting for?

Hello again, for those of you that read from the very top, down! I'm so excited to bring you this edition of Cartographic Surveillance! First off, I'd like to congratulate thehippo8 for joining the ranks of OliverFA as a Foundry Reporter, and OliverFA for joining the ranks of the Boys in Blue as a Cartography Assistant! thehippo8 makes his debut this issue with an article about an important legal matter in the Foundry. Oliver is, of course, back with another, much larger 'Classic' (in both senses), and I got to interview the new Foreman and my recently promoted Reporter! Enjoy, folks!

Some say that the sincerest form of flattery is to be a copycat. Well in a world where nothing is new anymore it could become a motivation if not a creed for some. But before you get all excited and think that the green light is on to copy willy-nilly any brilliant idea remember that Copyright retains a firm grip on all our throats. The question is whether this is all bad or simply something to understand and work with?

And like all good imperatives, it was promptly broken by Spockers working with KEYOGI on this very project through July and August of 2007. That is, until the Photoshop file corrupted and the project was shelved. As to the issue of copyright, there was some debate between Spockers and DiM in which Spockers conclusively stated:

Obviously Spockers never told DiM the whole story as DiM asked Spockers to PM him the detail back in 2007. It seems Spockers didn’t PM DiM so we are all none the wiser as to what the truth was. But back to the topic at hand, where does this leave the Conquer Club community. A small diversion ...

Lost is lost

In the words of Kugelblitz22 from the archives of Condensed Map Ideas (circa May 2007) discussing the frustrations of not being able to produce a map based on the hit TV show Lost:

You could get lost for days in the Melting Pot: Map Ideas forum, I know because this has happened to me. For the cycling community this brilliant idea has come up but instantly the question of copyright came up when:

To whichnatty_dread accepted was a complete answer to the copyright question.

Midguard shows the way

A bright eyed gladreal13 sets up a thread in the Cartographers Forum entitled Middle Earth?!? Suggesting that it would be great to have a map based on the great JRR Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings. So, AndyDufresne sits him down and:

This is an honesty system at its finest. But, as alluded to, ideas come from somewhere. And it won't take long before so-and-so says that such-and-such a map appears somewhat derivative of some-other. But as KEYOGI noted:

In the case of the Westeros map there is no question that the map and work gone into it are entirely the works of the Conquer Club community. It is agreed that Westeros would not exist but for the magnificent series, A Song of Ice and Fire, but it cannot be said that George R. R. Martin had a hand in the artwork, gameplay or indeed any other part of the Westeros map. Mr Martin cannot lay claim to the Westeros map as it is not his. This is Midguard revisited.

Brave souls out there should not shy away from developing maps which are based on others ideas. There is nothing to stop any map being created even on Copyright material so long as consent is obtained. But where that cannot be obtained then there is a world of creativity out there for the rest of us.

One rule of thumb is respect for the original owner of any Copyrighted work. Common sense is the easiest thing to apply. Stand back and look at your work, does it evoke the feeling of the original work but does not in any way appear to be a copy of it? If so then that's the right way to copy. If not then perhaps think again. But never fret, the process of map developing will provide you with feedback from our talented community and it would not belong before you would be pulled up if you did cross that line. If all else fails, or even if its just out of respect, nothing stops you asking!

So go forth and develop all those great ideas and if you must copy, copy right!

Nowadays, the Foundry is plenty of life. We enjoy a continuous stream of creativity and talent. Thanks to the effort of dedicated mapmakers, new additions are quenched regularly. And many more maps are in the works.

But there are also maps that were created long ago. Maps that despite having been with us for long time still feel fresh like the first day. Every day, many games are played on those maps. Those maps are true jewels that have stood the test of time. They are real Classics. They deserve our attention despite the time that has passed since they were created. Or maybe because of that.

World 2.1 by zimHello dear readers! Once again, we are travelling back in time to review a great classic of CC. If last time we reviewed small and simple Doodle Earth, this time we will review its big brother, World 2.1.

World 2.1 premise it’s simple. The Classic map it’s great. Classic is what brought us all to this game. However, sometimes it feels like it’s lacking some depth. There are many areas of the world that are not properly represented because they need more detail. Fighting for control of the world should really feel like a big scale war in the world, and not a few fights in selected places.World 2.1 addresses this concern by expanding the total territory count from the standard 42 territories to a big total of 113, almost three times the original size. For long time, World 2.1 was the biggest map in CC, and continues to be one of the bigger maps.

Despite being a bigger map than Classic, some countries are still too small to be represented. Specially the ones in Europe unfortunately had to go. On the other hand biggest countries like US, Brazil and Russia get several territories. Those concessions could disappoint the most purist among CC members, but are necessary in order to achieve a better gameplay. Maybe a way to solve it would have been to oversize Europe, but this would have resulted in an odd looking map.

Gameplay does not keep as intact as in Doodle’s Earth. Doodle was an almost perfect smaller version of Classic. World 2.1 introduces new attack routes, but in my opinion they are good because they make sense. Australia (I mean… Oceania ) really benefits from having connections to Hawaii and Antarctica. And Africa no longer is a continent connected everywhere, but gets more logical connections around more realistic borders.

But having more territories is not the only innovation brought by World 2.1. This map also features half continent bonuses. It was not only an innovation at its time, but it really makes sense with the theme. Holding a big continent provides an important bonus, but some big areas inside continents are important enough by themselves to grant a significant but smaller bonus. Owning the full continent still provides a higher bonus than the sum of the parts, which also makes a lot of sense.

By the way, if you are curious about why it is called World 2.1, I’ll tell you that originally this map was called World 2.0, but when some adjustments were made after the first games were played on it, it was renamed World 2.1. So World 2.1 is a very good map to play because it is a reviewed and improved version over the original idea.

If Classic has become too small for you, then you will no doubt enjoy World 2.1. You can learn more about this map by visiting its thread at the Foundry viewtopic.php?f=358&t=6422

And if World 2.1 finally also becomes too small for you, don’t panic. Maybe we’ll get a World 3.0 some day!

As most of you well know, long-standing Foundry Foreman, MrBenn, has resigned, passing on the reigns to former Deputy, thenobodies80. In addition, Foundry Reporter and avid Adjacent Attacks supporter, OliverFA, has joined the ranks of the Boys in Blue. So, hello Oliver, goodbye MrBenn, and congrats, nobodies! I got the pleasure of interviewing OliverFA and thenobodies80 about their new positions. Unfortunately MrBenn missed the deadline, but hopefully I'll have his responses for you in the next edition of the Dispatch

Q. thenobodies80, you have been Foreman for about a week now. How does it feel? Is it much different from being a Cartography Assistant?

thenobodies80: Happy and honored, but for now I'm trying to familiarize myself with the new office. I'm placing some ornaments, hanging some pictures on the wall and put a nice plant in a corner. The desk is still a mess, i know, it's full of boxes that I need to unpack...but it's just because I've been distracted too many times looking at the crate of bananas in the corner, I need to put something in front of it... On a more serious note, being the foreman is great, obviously. I realize that now I have to look at the Foundry from a different point of view, trying not to focus too much on individual or small aspects, but having a larger point of view of things; coordinating people, planning improvements, listening to people and having everything running in the right way require lot of time.That's probably the biggest difference. I used to ask, now everyone asks me. MrBenn did such a great job during these past years, I already know it won't be easy to fill so big a pair of shoes...we will see. Anyway a week is not so much time, ask me this question again in a month or two and I'll be able to give you a more thoughtful answer.

Q. OliverFA, what suggestion would you most like to see implemented on CC? Lol, just kidding! How are the Blue Suede Shoes fitting you? What exactly will you be doing for the team?

OliverFA: Hello Victor! and hello to all Dispatch readers! First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to conduct this interview. It's very kind of you

The first thing that I realized when I started contributing in the Foundry was that everybody is highly professional. I mean... when you see things from outside, the Foundry staff looks very professional. But when you have the chance to peek inside, you realize that they are even more professional than what it seems from outside. Everybody takes his job really seriously, and that's good. It is an honour to become part of this highly skilled group. So the blue shoes are fitting really well

About my responsibilities, they can be summarized with three letters: XML. I will be performing XML related tasks: My main task will be to perform the XML checks for the maps in the Final Foundry, but I am also working in an XML-related project that I hope sees the light very soon. I'll keep the details about that project as a surprise.

Q. You both have been present in the Foundry for a fair amount of time now. What does the Foundry mean to you? How has your perception of it changed over time, specifically since the recent changes?

I hate this question. Probably the Foundry is the real reason why I visit this site. I like to play games....but drawing maps, taking part in the mapmaking process..i think it's fantastic! I love it, just that. The foundry is a living machine, it continues to change according to the needs of the community, the recent changes are just the result of a need.

For me the Foundry means two different things, one for CC members and the other for CC itself.

For CC members it's the way to release all their creativity and achieve the satisfaction of seeing their effort becoming part of the site. When a map is quenched, it means that every day dozens of people will play that map. Your creation will be enjoyed by people all around the world. That always brings satisfaction.

But if seeing your creation enjoyed by others brings satisfaction, the process of creation itself is no less enjoyable. Discussing the details of a map (be it your map of someone else's) it's a very enjoyable activity. Deciding which is the right bonus for that continent, argumenting why that border between territories needs to dissapear or even championing a name for a map, are just a few aspects of the creation process that can be enjoyed in the Foundry.

For CC the Foundry means one of the ways to bring new blood to the site and keep it alive and dynamic. The map catalog is always expanding, and each map brings a new and unique way to play our favourite game. Classic is good, but there are only a certain number of ways you can play it. Choose a complete different map and the game becomes a completely different one despite it is still using the same basic rules. And that's thanks to the Foundry.

Q. What do you enjoy most about the Foundry?

When a simple draft becomes a great map to play.

Without any kind of doubt, what I enjoy most is to see how creative and resourceful mapmakers are. They only have a limited set of XML tags, yet they use them with amazing creativity. Almost every new map, has a different variation that makes it unique.

If mapmakers can acomplish so much with what they have now, what would they do if some of the suggested XML tags were implemented? The result would no doubt be wonderful!

Q. What do you suppose the Foundry will look like after the recent changes have really set in? What do you think will be some issues and some benefits of the changes? How do you feel about the changes overall?

We have not finished yet, then...

In my opinion the changes are good because they are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. We have a system that works yet it's not free of issues. The right way to act, instead of putting everything upside down, it's to keep things that work and fix the ones that don't work. This will result in a continuously improving Foundry, which is how I think the Foundry will look like after the changes.

About the changes in staff, we will no doubt miss MrBenn's guidance, but he has worked hard and deserves to enjoy a nice retirement. Thenobodies80 is no doubt a worthy successor that will keep intact MrBenn's legacy and improve it.

Q. What would you say to those trying to get involved in the Foundry? To those that have been around awhile?

3 words, to both. Ask, listen, discuss.

I would say: Don't be afraid to join the discussion. Being a game designer is no longer the privilege of a few selected group of lucky people at the office of some big games company. You can also design your own map or help others design theirs. Don't think that you don't have anything interesting to say, because your opinion matters. It's the ongoing discussion in the Foundry what makes CC maps so good.

Q. Any further words for the 'masses'?

One day a wise man said to me: "the Foundry needs masses to work". So, masses are obviously welcome!

I know that many of you have good ideas, but are a bit shy to share them. Don't be shy and come to the Foundry to tell us about the map that you want to make! We are waiting you.

This time in the clan section we have another update on how things progress in the Conquerors Cup which is seemingly on the slim side and our Newcomers Cup columnist puts a spotlight on the champions of it's inaugural edition. Also included is the double R from BoganGod where he deplores the slow state of improvements in the clan scene, and Black knight has some intriguing suggestions to spice up our Clan Challenges and add something different to the mix. Hardball takes it's break this issue to research new material.

Also hip and happening in the clan scene is the culmination of more than 6 months of Clan League action as Agents of Chaos trail Immortal* Assassins by 7 games to 5 in the final, and a new competition joins the fray in the form of the All Comers Cup.Something else to look forward to is the start of a 2v2 Clan Challenge which could herald a new adventure for Competitive Clans.

And remember, there are a myriad of other challenges being fought in Active challenges, so we'd love to hear from you the reader on how your individual battles progress.

Welcome to another exciting quarterfinal review of the Conquerors Cup. It's jam-packed with action as we reach the business stages of the match-ups, so with out further ado, lets get down and dirty with these gripping challenges

11 vs. 11The Horseman of the Apocalypse vs. Agents of Chaos- First up is the duel between the 1st and 8th seeds, though it's hard to tell which is which in such a close encounter. All games are now in play with batch 3 starting recently, so we're sure to see an exciting contest and more and more of the games start to finish down the final stretch. Of interest is how Thota newbie Pascalleke is playing in the most games of either side at 17, perhaps an effort to make up for lost time after he was left on the bench for Thota's first run in the competition against BpB due to previous player cup-tied constraints. Also noteworthy is the sheer number of No Spoils games involved between these two quality sides, and a sign of how intense these challenges can be when neither clan is willing to leave room for luck concerns that Spoils inevitably bring into play. However, that does make it easier when taking a cursory look over the games since kills on either side are much harder to overcome, and therefore we're able to give a provisional advantage of 15-13 to Thota at present. Again, there's also no way to determine the impact the Clan League Final has at the back of AoC's minds since they are trailing there as well.

10 vs. 16Legends of War vs. The Spanking Monkeys- Our next challenge sees another overwhelming performance by Tsm where they could be up by as much as 20-10. The difference on the field may perhaps not be as much as that scoreline would suggest, but it is indicative of another accomplished display by Tsm to leave Low with it all to do in the remaining games.

12 vs. 10Knights of the Round Table vs. Fraternal Order of Exceptional Drinkers- Another close encounter where the tension is palpable. Kort hold a very slim lead over the consecutive upset contenders in Foed. Batch 3 however remains to be exchanged, so there's still lots of playing needing to be done before we can determine a winner. Provisional score right now would be 12-11

16 vs. 4Empire vs. The Odd Fellows Union-The surprising challenge of the quarterfinals where it seems to be turning into an echo of the previous round for Empire as they rack up another big lead in the early stages. Nemesis couldn't mount an effective fight-back there, but the quarterfinals are another kettle of fish, and considering there's still 1 more batch to come, it'll be interesting if Empire can last the distance. Current advantage would have empire still leading by 11 as Tofu regroup to try make this a contest.

In February of 2011, Great-Ollie and John Deere packed their bags and left Memento Mori. Taking with them a couple former MM players and the skills gained from their former leaders this group, would become the back bone of The Pack. Just over 6 months old, this clan has blown away all preconceived notions that a new clan cant compete with some of the best competition on CC. With a record of 7 wins and 0 losses, The Pack are climbing the clan ladder faster than any other clan on CC and have so far found no opponent too much to handle. At 18 members strong The Pack are collecting clan achievement medals like eddie2 collects temporary bans and thus far show no signs of stopping.(neither of them do ) how many more wins are in their future?

I had a chat with co-leader Great-Ollie and asked him a little about the history of The Pack and the secrets to his clans success.

Q.Why did you leave MM?

A.Well it was a combination of things really. Myself and the other Pack leader John Deere did not feel that we were given a fair shake in that clan. We had some problems with one of the members who was in a leadership role, and chose to leave rather then cause a rift within the MM clan.

Q.So then, why not just join another clan?

A.After I left I almost joined the Reapers, but the leader at the time would not take on myself and John Deere. We wanted some input into how things were done and nobody wanted to allow us to jump on board with them.

Q.What makes The Pack so good?

A. I would like to think it is all skill, but really it is a combination of a few things. To sum it up: -communication -time and dedication -friends and fun

Q.Any plans for the future?

A.Well we plan on taking a little break after the Newcomers Cup to rest and train some more. We know we have to bring our A game to the table with higher end challenges, so we plan on re-tooling some maps and line ups before testing ourselves against a top ranked clan.

Q.Are you currently recruiting?

A.Yes we are, we actually had to start a training group for all the interest we were receiving. Our problem is, to take the next jump we need higher end players, and we just don't have the rank to catch their eye yet. However Some of our training group members are coming along nicely.

Q.Is there anything else you would like to add?

A.I would just like to thank all my fellow clan members for their devotion and hard work they have all put into making this clan such an instant success. Hopefully we can remain undefeated for a while, but there are a lot of great clans out there now and we are looking forward to some epic battles in the future!

Thanks to Great-Ollie for taking the time to have a chat with me. If you are interested in joining The Pack Training Grounds you can contact John Deere for more information.

Over the past six months The Pack has proven that they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Though not yet a top ranked clan they are one of, if not the fastest rising clan on CC and I look forward to watching their development. When they finally do get a challenge with a top 10 clan, I will be very interested to see the outcome. I wish the Pack good luck and continued success and development!

Greetings devoted fans, jealous haters, stalkers and mullet fanciers. I'm steaming, hot under the collar, spitting chips, blown a fuse, shopping for a slap, cruising for a bruising, ready to start swinging, looking for a blue, had it up to here and beyond. Yes devoted readers the calm mild mannered Bogan deity that you all admire, the divine mullet fancier with a sense of humour is well and truly fired up. I'm angry.

I can hear you ask "what in the 7 realms has angered you so much oh divine grey hound trainer". I'll tell you now, it is whingers(for those that don't speak english-yes that includes the americans-a whinger is a crybaby, someone that incessantly complains.). Every where I turn there are whingers, the crop of whingers has gotten so large whinging has become contagious. I'm even whinging about whingers <stops to think and assess why rant is going around in circles, must be lack of liquid smarts> Why can't people be happy? Why do people have to complain about everything. In the clan world the wheels of change move more slowly than a one legged sloth on valium. Yet the wheels still move.

There are a quite a few suggestions that it would make a lot of sense to implement. These suggestions would increase the pleasure/fun that players in clans derive from their CC experience. Just a quick example - Group/clan leaders been given the rights to edit, lock and delete threads(within their group/clan forum). This would make it a lot easier to keep a tidy clan forum. This idea has been around for years. It would improve social usergroup/clan fora immensely. It hasn't happened, and if the 'do nothing/do little and do it slowly' admin on this site continue at their glacial pace it may never happen, or will only happen by 2020. This doesn't mean that it is not worth being part of a clan or social usergroup. It just means that people have to be a bit more thoughtful when starting threads, and stickies get used a lot more than they would be under normal circumstances.

I think we need to take a moment, and look at what has been achieved in the clan area of site. Medals for clan wars is one big thing, and there are others. Yes it would be nice if this site was run a bit better than an 8 year old child's ant farm, but it could be a lot worse. I'm that old that I remember when games were text based. "You have encountered a crystal dragoon do you a)......"

I'm probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to whinging, self loathing is after all a healthy and normal part of existence. Just ask yourself next time your crying about something like a 2yr old with a broken dolly, if it suxes so badly why are you here? You're still here? Then stop to remember why it is that you've stayed. I'm off to check the mail box, my copy of advanced dessert mammal husbandry was supposed to be here 2days ago.

This issue I'd like to address the issue of clan wars. There seems to be one standard kind of war challenge, which looks a bit like this:

QoH wrote:The New Crusade has boldly challenged The PigRenters, and will soon be feasting on slabs of bacon!Contacts: QoH(TNC) and ukberger(PR)

SettingsTotal Games, 43, played in 2 sets.14 Doubles14 Triples14 QuadsThe tiebreaker will be random, quads, sunny, chained, no spoilsNo more than 15 games per player.No freestyle, manual, speed, or nukes. Random map will be used exclusively for the 43rd game

I am sure all of you who play clan wars are familiar with this set-up. However, are there other ways that clans can go head-to-head for a bit of inter-clan mayhem that isn't the standard set up as above? I've been scratching my head about it and chatting with other fellow clan members. Here are a few ideas.Clan war alternative 1: Axis vs AlliesIn this alternative, clans play off against each other but have a restricted set of maps to choose from. A classic example would be World War II, with one clan representing Axis and the other representing Allies. Each clan has 20 home games and has to submit them from the WWII map set. The tiebreaker would be played on something like D Day or WWII Europe. They can do this any way they please as long as each map is represented at least once. You could do a similar thing but restricting it to USA maps (of which there are also plenty).

Clan war alternative 2: East vs WestIn this alternative, one clan represents the East (any Asian maps) and one the West (any European or American maps). Each clan then submits their twenty home games from that pool of maps (maps to be decided on at the time of war). This could also work with Third World vs First World, North vs South etc. Clan war alternative 3: Prisoner of war!In this alternative, the leaders of each clan begin with a single trips or quads game. The first person to die on the losing team "falls into enemy hands". That leader cannot play for the first half of the war. The winning side now submits their 20 home games and decides which home game the POW is held prisoner on (without telling the opposing clan, but tells the imprisoned clan leader). If the opposing clan manages to win the map in which the leader is held prisoner they "regain" their leader. The 20 other games are then played with the full clan. If the clan fails to recapture their leader then the leader cannot play the second part of the war. So conceivably you could win the war but without one of your leaders. All else remains as normal.Clan war alternative 4: Achilles vs HectorIn this alternative, it's not really a war. Each clan nominates a "clan champion" (a bit like Achilles and Hector). A map is decided for 1 vs 1 play. The two champions battle it out for a best of 5 (or 3, or 7, or 11) and everyone on else cheers them on.

What do you think? Has your clan tried a different kind of war like one of these above? Why not give it a shot? And just so you know, the New Crusade is up for any challenge standard or otherwise! Just send me a pm. Happy warfaring

12:17:31 ‹Pixar› im gonna be fappin to that all night long10:59:12 ‹rhp 1› holy hell... that did it.. I pissed myself15:15:52 ‹Ace Rimmer› Sackett58, I think I may get some action this weekend15:16:05 ‹Sackett58› Right hand or left Ace?

Q. Do you actually believe the pre-war predictions you make? If so, do you really think EMPIRE is that bad?

Empire is not bad and has improved a good bit since you guys last played us. I have picked Empire in many wars, yet Empire has not beaten one of the top 5 yet? TSM? THOTA? TOFU? KORT? or LoW. Until then I will pick vs Empire. Prove me wrong.

haha well on out way to proving you wrong though that has not been hard we have already done it in our last 3-4 wars